Two streams in Germany (Körsch and Lockwitzbach), each with two sampling sites above and below a sewage treatment plant (STP) discharging effluent, were investigated. Sampling sites were characterized, and exposure monitoring for chemicals with known or assumed endocrine disrupting potential was carried out. Both the population structure and the population dynamics of Gammarus fossarum were examined. The physicochemical parameters measured at the sampling sites of the Lockwitzbach and Körsch streams were found not to reach levels having an acute toxic impact on the development of gammarids. The calculated estrogenic potential in the stream water was 22- to 35-fold higher at the downstream site of the Körsch compared with the other sampling sites, mainly because of the concentrations of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol on two sampling dates. At both streams, an influence of the respective STP effluent on the sex ratio of G. fossarum was not observed. Moreover, intersexuality was not induced by these effluents. Differences in the structure and dynamics of G. fossarum populations were more pronounced at the Körsch than at the Lockwitzbach. At the downstream sampling site at the Körsch, gammarids reached their highest abundances. Particularly at the downstream sampling site of the Körsch, the proportion of breeding female gammarids and the proportion of juvenile gammarids in the smallest body length class were decreased compared with upstream. Adult gammarids were larger from the Lockwitzbach downstream site, but they were smaller from the Körsch downstream site compared with the respective upstream site. At the Körsch, the earlier onset of the autumnal reproductive resting period could be caused by the influence of the STP effluent.
In a field study, individuals of autochthounous populations of the amphipod Gammarus fossarum were examined for their maturity status, oocyte development, and biochemical parameters associated with their reproductive cycle. Variability in these parameters was related to abiotic exposure parameters varying in accordance to wastewater discharges, stream identity, and time. Patterns of all investigated parameters showed predominantly seasonal rather than spatial influence for both exposure and biologic effects. Single selected-effect parameters, however--such as the maturity index, late vitellogenic oocyte size and atresia, and the hsp90 level--responded to a sewage treatment plant discharge showing an estrogenic potential and also correlated significantly with the concentration of potential xenoestrogens at the different locations.
The effects of the world wide-distributed chemical bisphenol A (BPA) on the endocrine system of vertebrates have been demonstrated in several studies. Here, we report on the impact of BPA (0, 5, 50 and 500 microg/l nominally, deduced effective concentrations 0, 0.24, 2.4, and 24.1 microg/l, respectively, all at 15 degrees C) on the 70 kD stress protein family (hsp70), the 90 kD stress protein family (hsp90), and gonad histology of the crustacean Gammarus fossarum exposed in artificial indoor streams. The animals were exposed for a maximum of 103 days and samples were taken at the beginning and at days 34, 69 and 103 of the experiment. Exposure to BPA resulted in accelerated maturation of oocytes in females and in a decline in the number and size of early vitellogenic oocytes. The level of hsp90, which plays a pivotal role in vertebrate sex steroid signal transduction, was significantly reduced by BPA. In all five streams, measured parameters did not indicate any captivity stress for a period of 69 days. Beyond this time, the mortality rate and proteotoxic effects, the latter measured by hsp70 expression, were found to be elevated.
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